Demon Moon

lap.
    “I’m Paul, this is Fia.” He paused, and uncertainty flickered over his features.
    Was he afraid that he’d inadvertently given Colin power over them by telling him their names? Alas, if only. Colin didn’t deny or confirm his fear, though, and gestured for him to continue.
    “We’ve recently returned to San Francisco,” Paul said, and clasped his hands over Fia’s. “Last year, when the…the…”
    It wasn’t pity that led Colin to help him out. “When the nosferatu began slaughtering us?” he supplied, and grinned as terror spiked the psychic scents of the vampires around them. None of these had fought the nosferatu—if they had, they’d not have survived. Nor had they been inside Polidori’s when the cursed creatures had set fire to it, trapping seventy vampires inside…many of them the community’s elders. But they would have seen how the nosferatu ripped their human victims apart; photographs from the rituals Lucifer and the nosferatu had performed had leaked into the news and online. A few might have witnessed firsthand their unbelievable strength and speed.
    “The nosferatu. Yes.” The vampire’s pallor deepened; both he and his human guarded their minds well. If not for the physical response, Colin would have had difficulty reading him. “Most of us fled seven months ago, right before they burned this place down.”
    If fear of the nosferatu had inspired them to flee, they were more intelligent than the elders had been. “A wise decision, I daresay.”
    “Most of us lost our sires,” Paul added, and Colin suppressed his grimace of distaste. One did not sire vampires as if they were animals. Of course, the elders had acted as animals, allowed themselves to be herded into Polidori’s and then massacred. Against the nosferatu, there had been no safety in numbers, and they’d only presented a larger target. “But you survived.”
    “Apparently,” Colin said.
    Fia shot a quick glance at Paul before she said, “There are rumors that you had protection from a demon. Perhaps a werewolf. You’ve frequently been observed in the company of a woman who isn’t…isn’t human, nor vampire.” She reached up and slid her hand self-consciously over her hair, and Colin almost burst into laughter. The dye and the leather had been an attempt to simulate Lilith’s appearance?
    He wasn’t certain what was more ridiculous: their obvious assumption that the halfling demon was his consort, or that this human thought she had hope of mimicking Lilith in presence or personality.
    “And you’ve been focusing your hunts on dark-haired women,” Fia continued.
    They’d discovered that? But Colin’s expression reflected none of his surprise as he said, “There is no such creature as a werewolf.”
    A psychic ripple of disappointment and disbelief from the vampires met his statement. Had their elders taught them nothing? Then again, the elders might not have known the truth about their origins, or the other beings that stalked the Earth.
    Very few did.
    “But there are demons? And they can offer us protection if the nosferatu strike again?”
    Colin’s humor fled. “No,” he said flatly. “And entering into such a bargain with one would be more foolish than sending a human in an attempt to soften an unknown vampire.”
    Embarrassment emanated from both members of the couple, but they were determined. Paul said, “We’ve also heard that a few vampires have been recruited by a government agency—and that those vampires were all connected with you in some manner. With Polidori’s.” He waved his hand in a sweeping gesture, as if Colin couldn’t see the vampires around them, the club. “Do you intend to lead us? You are the eldest among us.”
    Fia touched her neck and said quietly, “The most powerful.”
    More vampires gathered near, and Colin’s gaze swept over those assembled. Had they all planned this, or were they simply taking advantage of one couple’s daring? He leaned back and rested his arm along the top of the sofa. A sword lay behind a panel in the wall; he hoped he would not have to use it.
    Establishing superiority through bloodshed was as outdated as their clothing, and better suited to beasts.
    Colin’s gaze didn’t move from Paul’s, but he directed his statement to them all. “I am pleased that you noticed,” he replied. “Though I find it unfortunate that you assume my power has an obligation attached. Your elders were satisfied without having me as